Adopt these 5 ways to be more active every day
Blocking time for exercise from your daily schedule could be a task. While it is important to fulfill your duties, it is equally crucial to stay healthy. Research says people who walk at least 20 minutes daily have 43% fewer sick days than those who exercise once a week. If you can't exercise daily, you can walk! Here's how you can be more active.
Here's what our expert says
Walking is a great low-impact exercise and can be practiced in any setting, be it at the office, home, or in between. Staying on your feet as compared to sitting has a positive correlation with a healthier heart and a longer life. Increasing the number of steps one walks every day reduces the chances of heart attack and stroke in the long run.
Take the stairs
Whenever you have to choose between an elevator and stairs, go for the latter. Climbing stairs increases your heart rate and improves your stamina. It can even give a rise to the "good cholesterol" in your blood and help you stay fit. What's more? Well, climbing stairs increases your legs' strength and helps you maintain a good body weight too.
Walking meetings
Whether you are working from home or at your office, schedule a walk during at least one call a day. This is a great breather from long hours of staring at your laptop screen too. If working at the office, you can try to take your meetings on the go. Walking together also improves interpersonal bonds, and you may even get new ideas.
Travel on foot
If you are someone who spends most of the time commuting from one place to another in transport, then walking may do wonders for you. Try switching from wheels to foot — walk instead of taking public transport. If not, you can cover half a distance on wheels and the rest on foot. You can even park your car a little away and walk.
Set goals
Setting up targets is a great way to bring in some discipline in life. You can use a pedometer or download a pedometer app that counts your steps per day. Once done, you can start off by targeting 5,000 steps daily. You can increase or decrease the limit as per your convenience. This way, you can easily keep a tab on your movement.
Adopt a pet
Getting a pet home has many benefits spanning from emotional to physical health. Walking is an essential activity in a pet's life, which will naturally have you taking time out for it. Walk around with your "pawsome" friend together for a fitter future. You can even take along a ball or frisbee and play around with them in a park.